[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4462 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4462

 To authorize the award of a congressional gold medal on behalf of the 
Native Americans who served as Code Talkers during foreign conflicts in 
    which the United States was involved during the 20th Century in 
 recognition of their heroic and dramatic contributions to the Nation, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 12, 2007

    Ms. Granger (for herself, Mr. Kind, Mr. Wolf, and Mr. Kennedy) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the award of a congressional gold medal on behalf of the 
Native Americans who served as Code Talkers during foreign conflicts in 
    which the United States was involved during the 20th Century in 
 recognition of their heroic and dramatic contributions to the Nation, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Code Talkers Recognition Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPRESSION OF RECOGNITION.

    The purposes of the medals authorized by this Act are to express 
recognition by the United States and the Congress and to honor the 
Native American Code Talkers who distinguished themselves in performing 
highly successful communications operations of a unique type that 
greatly assisted in saving countless lives and in hastening the end of 
World War I and World War II.

SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) When the United States entered World War I, Indian 
        people of the United States were not accorded the status of 
        citizens of the United States.
            (2) Without regard to this lack of citizenship, members of 
        Indian Tribes and nations enlisted in the Armed Forces to fight 
        on behalf of their native land.
            (3) The first reported use of American Indian Code Talkers 
        was on October 17, 1918.
            (4) The Choctaw Code Talkers in World War I were the first 
        Code Talkers that played a role in American military operations 
        and transmitted vital communications that helped defeat German 
        forces in Europe in World War I.
            (5) Because the language used by the Choctaw soldiers in 
        the transmission of information was not based on a European 
        language or on a mathematical progression, the Germans were 
        unable to understand any of the transmissions.
            (6) This was the first time in modern warfare that such 
        transmission of messages in a native language was used for the 
        purpose of confusing the enemy.
            (7) On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl 
        Harbor, Hawaii and Congress declared war the following day.
            (8) The United States Government called upon the Comanche 
        Nation to support the military effort during World War II by 
        recruiting and enlisting Comanche men to serve in the United 
        States Army to develop a secret code based on the Comanche 
        language.
            (9) During World War II, the United States employed Native 
        American Code Talkers who developed secret means of 
        communication based on Native languages and who were critical 
        to winning the war.
            (10) The Army recruited about 50 Native Americans for such 
        special communication assignments and the Marines recruited 
        several hundred Navajos for duty in the Pacific.
            (11) In 2001, Congress and President Bush honored the 
        Navajo Code Talkers with congressional gold medals for their 
        contributions to the United States Armed Forces as radio 
        operators during World War II.
            (12) It is time for Congress to give all Native American 
        Code Talkers the recognition they deserve for their 
        contributions to United States victories in World War I and 
        World War II.
            (13) Soldiers from the Assiniboine, Cherokee, Cheyenne, 
        Chippewa/Oneida, Choctaw, Comanche, Cree, Crow, Hopi, Kiowa, 
        Menominee, Meskwaki, Mississauga, Muscogee, Osage, Pawnee, Sac 
        and Fox, Seminole, and Sioux (Lakota and Dakota) Indian Tribes 
        and nations served as Code Talkers during World War II.
            (14) To the enemy's frustration, the code developed by 
        these Native American Indians proved to be unbreakable and was 
        used extensively throughout the European theater.
            (15) The heroic and dramatic contributions of the Native 
        American Code Talkers was instrumental in driving back Axis 
        forces across the Pacific during World War II.

SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Awards Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives 
and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate 
arrangements for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold 
medal of appropriate design in honor of the Native American members of 
the United States Armed Forces, collectively, who served as Code 
Talkers in any foreign conflict in which the United States was involved 
during the 20th Century.
    (b) Design and Striking.--
            (1) In general.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
        in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in 
        this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold 
        medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be 
        determined by the Secretary.
            (2) Designs of medals emblematic of code talker service.--
        The design of the gold medal struck under this subsection in 
        recognition of Native American Code Talkers shall be emblematic 
        of the heroic and dramatic service of such Code Talkers.
            (3) Indian tribe defined.--For purposes of this Act, the 
        term ``Indian tribe'' has the same meaning as in section 4 of 
        the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.
    (c) Display of Gold Medal.--Following the award of the gold medal 
under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian 
Institution where it will be displayed as appropriate and made 
available for research.
    (d) Presentation of Duplicate Gold Medals to Tribal Governments.--
The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro 
tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 
presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold duplicate of the 
gold medal awarded under subsection (a) to the government of each 
Indian tribe that the Secretary and the Secretary of Defense jointly 
determine had tribal members who served as Code Talkers in the United 
States Armed Forces in any foreign conflict in which the United States 
was involved during the 20th Century.

SEC. 5. SILVER DUPLICATES FOR INDIVIDUAL CODE TALKERS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall strike duplicates in silver of 
the gold medals struck under section 4 for transmittal, in a manner to 
be determined by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 
President pro tempore of the Senate, to each individual identified 
under subsection (b) as a Native American member of the United States 
Armed Forces who served as a Code Talker in any foreign conflict in 
which the United States was involved during the 20th Century or to the 
next of kin or other personal representative of any such Native 
American who has deceased before such presentation.
    (b) Determination of Identity of Code Talkers.--For purposes of 
determining eligibility for a silver duplicate under subsection (a), 
the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of Defense who shall 
make prompt determinations of such eligibility.

SEC. 6. BRONZE DUPLICATE MEDALS FOR SALE TO PUBLIC.

    Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the 
Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal 
struck under section 4, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the 
medal, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead 
expenses.

SEC. 7. NATIONAL MEDALS.

    Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for purposes 
of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, such 
amounts as are necessary to pay for the cost of the medals authorized 
under sections 4 and 5.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals under this Act shall be deposited in the United States 
Mint Public Enterprise Fund.

SEC. 9. RULE OF CONSTUCTION.

    No provision of this Act shall be construed as authorizing the 
award of a duplicate medal to any individual, or any next of kin or 
personal representative of any individual, previously honored pursuant 
to section 1101 of title XI of division B of H.R. 5666, as enacted by 
reference in Public Law 106-554.
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